Amilla, Maldives

After 10 years in the Maldives, Tom McLoughlin goes by the Dhivehi
name for "island chief" when he's at home, a paradisical speck in
the Indian Ocean named Amilla Fushi. There's a fair bit of
McLoughlin's character in Amilla, the resort he's opening
this month with fellow Australian Michael Flynn. "I didn't want a
stiff, high-end resort," he says. "I wanted a place where families
and groups of friends could have the time of their lives. I wanted
simplicity but with great style."

McLoughlin and Flynn, whose Small Maldives Island Co manages the
resort, dreamed big on a small island: 71 "homes" with pools and up
to six bedrooms; a 1,300-square-metre pool they say is the biggest
in the Maldives; eight dining venues; a children's jungle; a dive
centre; and a 15-room spa. There are homes facing the beach, reef
and lagoon, and treehouses at the height of coconut palms.

Why stop at one island? Next year the business partners will open
Finolhu, envisaged as a "luxury beach club" for a younger set. Both
islands in Baa Atoll are about 30 minutes north-west of the
capital, Malé, by seaplane and, like all of the 1,200 islands
within the Maldives' 26 atolls, these two are surrounded by lagoons
and circled by reef. Amilla's reef has its own "blue hole" dive
site within swimming distance of the beach.

Luke Mangan is overseeing Amilla's menus, from the upscale Lonu to
barbecue hampers and "home" delivery, and promises a focus on
seafood straight from the boat. In a first among Maldives resorts,
guests can slip down to a general store for supplies to cook. Or
there's always the butler.